Here's all my advice, as a roleplayer of 16 years (I'm so old) I've made plenty of mistakes, even with just Armi over here (I rolled her in FFXI back in 2003 and kept rolling her to try to find her niche):
1. The biggest thing that made me lose connection with her in Aion - despite the fact I had played her pretty much the same in World of Warcraft and FFXI (Armi always has the same basic personality, with some differences and a different background) was the fact I pigeon-holed her into a gimmick and refused to let her grow out of it - without the gimmick she wasn't Armi. I didn't make her a whole person, there was THAT gimmick and if she grew out of it I had no idea what to do with her. So I never had her grow. People tried, then got bored of trying and eventually she just stagnated. Make sure your characters are fluid, if they have some kind of issue, try also seeing how they would be if they got over it. If you're stubborn about keeping your character exactly the same way, making it so they are the same a year ago as they are now, you're going to get bored. They become less interesting.
2. Keep a Journal! I just tried a journal for the first time in FFXIV because I read Eva's journal and enjoyed it immensely and I'm finding it a great place for solo RP and rediscovering your characters inner thoughts. Even if it's not one you share, I'm finding knowing what Armi's thinking and her inner monologues are super helpful and make her really interesting to me. I don't get to rp Armi's issues or Armi's story much (Since I GM stories for people and can't make it all about her) - but it's okay because I have that journal as a back up to get those things out. She has a few very close friends she can talk to about things and she has her journal if they can't be pulled off for one on one time. It's made me really bond with her.
3. Kind of piggy backing on the above -- if your character is only really "on" when your rping with people, it's going to become a frustrating experience. If you're character is doing nothing in your mind except waiting for RP you may lose connection with them if you aren't rping as much as you like. Make sure to take the time to think about what your character would be doing beyond RP. Even beyond just "Training" or "Reading." What are they reading? What are their favorite books? Where do they get those books? Do they know anyone at the shop they get them? Are they in a book club? Do they like fiction? Are they writers themselves? Is their a book series that's their favorite?
Making sure your character has a rich background life is also important. For Armi -- I don't get to do her Bard stuff a lot, because for a long while she was shy and didn't share her stuff and I'm not part of a Free Company that is entertainment inclined. Right now, I have her playing in small cafe's and shops in Ul'dah when she can. I write songs people may or may not hear, which is fine. I'm doing it for my characters benefits, not anyone elses. She enjoys Romance Novels, or Romantic Fairytales, and hunts bookshops for good ones, filling her bookshelves to the brim when she can. I have a list of her favorites... and some she read for curiosity (Hyur written Miqo'te/Hyur romance novels for instance). She was an herbalist in her preisthood and likes to make tea. If she's off screen she's looking for different herbs and studying different cultures tea recipes.
All kind of things. This stuff may bleed into regular RP too, so it's really good to have it somewhere.
4. If you feel like your character has derailed and that's the reason for the missing connection. You probably need to pull her and try to figure out how to realign her how you want her to be. A lot of people don't like the prospect of pulling a character for awhile, but it may be best because you would be playing a character you're only half interested in anyway.
1. The biggest thing that made me lose connection with her in Aion - despite the fact I had played her pretty much the same in World of Warcraft and FFXI (Armi always has the same basic personality, with some differences and a different background) was the fact I pigeon-holed her into a gimmick and refused to let her grow out of it - without the gimmick she wasn't Armi. I didn't make her a whole person, there was THAT gimmick and if she grew out of it I had no idea what to do with her. So I never had her grow. People tried, then got bored of trying and eventually she just stagnated. Make sure your characters are fluid, if they have some kind of issue, try also seeing how they would be if they got over it. If you're stubborn about keeping your character exactly the same way, making it so they are the same a year ago as they are now, you're going to get bored. They become less interesting.
2. Keep a Journal! I just tried a journal for the first time in FFXIV because I read Eva's journal and enjoyed it immensely and I'm finding it a great place for solo RP and rediscovering your characters inner thoughts. Even if it's not one you share, I'm finding knowing what Armi's thinking and her inner monologues are super helpful and make her really interesting to me. I don't get to rp Armi's issues or Armi's story much (Since I GM stories for people and can't make it all about her) - but it's okay because I have that journal as a back up to get those things out. She has a few very close friends she can talk to about things and she has her journal if they can't be pulled off for one on one time. It's made me really bond with her.
3. Kind of piggy backing on the above -- if your character is only really "on" when your rping with people, it's going to become a frustrating experience. If you're character is doing nothing in your mind except waiting for RP you may lose connection with them if you aren't rping as much as you like. Make sure to take the time to think about what your character would be doing beyond RP. Even beyond just "Training" or "Reading." What are they reading? What are their favorite books? Where do they get those books? Do they know anyone at the shop they get them? Are they in a book club? Do they like fiction? Are they writers themselves? Is their a book series that's their favorite?
Making sure your character has a rich background life is also important. For Armi -- I don't get to do her Bard stuff a lot, because for a long while she was shy and didn't share her stuff and I'm not part of a Free Company that is entertainment inclined. Right now, I have her playing in small cafe's and shops in Ul'dah when she can. I write songs people may or may not hear, which is fine. I'm doing it for my characters benefits, not anyone elses. She enjoys Romance Novels, or Romantic Fairytales, and hunts bookshops for good ones, filling her bookshelves to the brim when she can. I have a list of her favorites... and some she read for curiosity (Hyur written Miqo'te/Hyur romance novels for instance). She was an herbalist in her preisthood and likes to make tea. If she's off screen she's looking for different herbs and studying different cultures tea recipes.
All kind of things. This stuff may bleed into regular RP too, so it's really good to have it somewhere.
4. If you feel like your character has derailed and that's the reason for the missing connection. You probably need to pull her and try to figure out how to realign her how you want her to be. A lot of people don't like the prospect of pulling a character for awhile, but it may be best because you would be playing a character you're only half interested in anyway.
![[Image: tumblr_n92fndN0EH1rujdn8o1_500.gif]](https://33.media.tumblr.com/449e130ac31106ec8aeda3d0f121d76b/tumblr_n92fndN0EH1rujdn8o1_500.gif)
